Wednesday, 16 January 2013

Brands R Us

I don't draw any lines between business practice, models, ethics and marketing. Marketing is all and everything. You can't divide a business into compartments in my book. Business is all human encounters to me.

I don't leave myself out when I am speaking, or consulting or tweeting. All of me comes to work and all of me goes home. Of course I have a private and public self. I still edit and am mindful of the context - but it leaves a more generous part of my self wherever I tread.

Take an example. One of my clients is in the community space. For one of the projects I run we produce a directory / magazine for the community. Part of that means generating revenue through advertising and commercial opportunities.

Some of the businesses we attract are businesses I would, and have, bought goods or services from as a real customer. From my perspective their way of engaging with the advertising is connected to their way of producing and selling their wares.

So when a business chooses to be diffident or distant or disorganised when deciding if they should participate in the magazine - it leaks into how I, as a consumer, perceive them as a brand. In truth some 'luxury' brands have poor manners and business practices at trade or b2b level. This cannot help but influence how I interact with them at consumer or b2c level. It cannot help but affect the way I speak about them to my friends. What is important to emphasise - this is not about the agreement to participate or not - it is about the quality of discussion and the overall behaviour.

We are wired to demand 'coherence' - to make things add up. We don't like people who are 'two faced'. We don't trust people who change personality. We don't like 'fronts' or façades.

Brand coherence is a great leveller - the smallest business can be equal to the largest. It demands a huge amount from us and from our character.

So when a brand appears to care for us in advertising but then shows us they are just like all the rest in behaviour - it plays into our deepest fears - that we are alone, just us.

We all have inconsistencies - We can't always behave at our best. Sometimes trading situations push us to our limits. We ignore some causes and delay on certain things. We are not perfect. We have to build all this 'humanity' into our brands and our marketing nowadays. We can't put up the mask of perfection - plastic fantastic - we need to really consider who we are, what we do, how we serve and what difference we make.

With that honesty and transparency - with those wrinkles and frailties - comes the brilliance and intrigue and fascination that sets one brand apart from another. Makes one brand live and one brand exist. One business real and another fake.

Take your brand thinking to heart and consider how you are in the world and how your business lives.

Get up and do stuff, here's why...

BusinessWorking well gives people a real sense of achievement and satisfaction. Highly productive and successful people have a strong belief in what they do, a clear understanding of how to progress and a desire to make things happen. They listen and learn and perform at every level. Live business activities stimulate this and support well connected, highly networked confident companies and organisations.

Challenging NormsMany live performances challenge stereotypes and current thinking, offering new solutions to age old problems or just a new viewpoint which stimulates debate

ChemistryA physical chemical that is released when we are close up and personal with others that we find exciting. This is not just a sexual thing it can be released being around people in platonic settings too

ClosenessOften you see couples holding hands or families holding hands when they are at events this is part of the essential glue that binds us

ConnectionWhen we go out and do things we are around other people who are likeminded and enthusiastic this gives us a feeling of connection, an idea we are not alone

CuriosityBeing curious is a healthy state of mind - it means you are open to possibility, alive

DiscussionBy doing different things you can join in conversations with friends and families and even passing strangers and tell them things you are up to

DistractionThe mind needs distraction from worries and anxieties, events and live stuff offers a positive distraction from the daily grind

EnergyWe get energy from everything that surrounds us, live activities generate energy for everyone taking part

FascinationSeeing what people are doing, crafts and skills they exhibit we are taken into a satisfying state of fascination

GraceLooking at fine art takes us into a state of grace as we contemplate the human skill that has gone into the work and the story being told

HappinessA feeling of being alive creates chemicals in the brain which we experience as happiness, getting out and taking part, learning and discovering creates oodles of happiness

InspirationWe find other people inspiring, their talent and determination helps us to see that things are possible, that things are happening, when we experience these close up it makes them real to us and gives us the idea we could do that too

JoyAnother great mood to experience, being around friends, sharing ideas and being creative gives us joyful times

KnowledgeIt's not about power, it's about wisdom. As you build knowledge and apply that knowledge so your life opens up wider

LaughterGoing out and doing interesting things gives us a good mood which makes it easier to find things to laugh about. Laughter adds to the wellbeing we feel

LearningWe find we are slowly and surely learning new things and growing this leads to a sense of meaning in our life

MemoriesMemories give us meaning. We remember who we are often through what we've done.

MoodGreat experiences alter our mood, which help us feel better and change the way our brains work. They make us more positive about our lives.

NeoThe word for new, our brain loves new things and new ideas, get out and discover your curiosity gene

OpenWhen we are open to each other and to other cultures we find our world expands and becomes exciting and inspiring

PromiseWe all have so much promise. Take yourself out and about and you will experience different sights and sounds, meet new people and enjoy new insights.

QuietReflecting on what's going on in the world gives us a welcome break from multi-screen stimulus

RelaxationEnjoying a day out fishing or pursuing any special interest can offer a fab way to relax and to recharge

RoamToo much of our lives are dictated by the clock, make time to roam again, without an agenda or a to do list

StrayStray from the norm, find places you don't normally visit and drop by, stand and stare for a while, notice what's all around you

TogethernessIs a warm feeling that comes from sharing a day out with family and friends

UnderstandingWhen we watch another and listen and learn we understand a little more about ourselves and those around us

VictoryWhether it's ours or another's there is a rush of euphoria that we feel when we experience triumph

WillingnessWillingness to go beyond our usual habits and routines breathes new life into our world

YouthfulThat's how we feel when we refresh our world through real life experiences on a moment by moment, basis

ZestThe life force that runs through us when we are excited by our place in the world